The Almost Moon
A woman steps over the line into the unthinkable in this brilliant, powerful, and unforgettable new novel by the author of The Lovely Bones and Lucky. For years Helen Knightly has given her life to others: to her haunted mother, to her enigmatic father, to her husband and now grown children. When she finally crosses a terrible boundary, her life comes rushing in at her in a way she never could have imagined. Unfolding over the next twenty-four hours, this searing, fast-paced novel explores the complex ties between mothers and daughters, wives and lovers, the meaning of devotion, and the line between love and hate. It is a challenging, moving, gripping story, written with the fluidity and strength of voice that only Alice Sebold can bring to the page.
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Community Reviews
Written 6/5/08
My friend Nancy said I had to read this book and since she loaned it to me, I did. In the first chapter a woman kills her mother by suffocating her - The mother was suffering from demencia- anyway the book was full of flashbacks explaining the relationship between the two and why the woman hated her mother yet spent so many years caring for her. The book was okay-I didn't like all the flashbacks-there were too many and sometimes it was herd to tell then from now.
My friend Nancy said I had to read this book and since she loaned it to me, I did. In the first chapter a woman kills her mother by suffocating her - The mother was suffering from demencia- anyway the book was full of flashbacks explaining the relationship between the two and why the woman hated her mother yet spent so many years caring for her. The book was okay-I didn't like all the flashbacks-there were too many and sometimes it was herd to tell then from now.
Definitely a little disturbing but if you've read The Lovely Bones, Sebold's first novel, you expect that already. I couldn't quite wrap my head around some actions (although I was able to understand a few) of the main character. However, I really appreciated the writing style and how human it was - how we can casually look over at something and have a memory flash into our heads and just go with it. I think a lot of people think that way, not always in the present, and it allows the reader to learn about the character and how she got where she is. I really liked the story and the writing style, even though it was a little creepy.
Compared to Alice Sebold's other books, I enjoyed this one the least. I found the other ones harbored a darkness within her that she could take the trauma and create a storyline that let you follow her through a triggering and heartbreaking event and after math. I found this book to take the darkness and wallow in it. The protagonist does not develop nor show growth in it but instead gives in to every trigger and has no conclusion. I still think the author is extremely talented in her description and ability to let the reader feel the flood of emotions but in this book, it felt more like a scattered disconnected plot to which it never develops further.
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